[ Academia ] [ Regulatory & Policy ] [ Transactional ] as a Related Elective for those interested in Foreign Legal Systems : A clean tech practice today has a significant international component. Many business clients have non-U.S. customers, suppliers and distributors, and practitioners need to protect and enforce their clients’ IP rights in foreign markets. Understanding European Union law is particularly important, as the EU is the most significant bilateral trade partner of the U.S.

General course
Description:

The U.S. and the European Union (which comprises 27 European states and 500 million people) have the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world. About 60% of the world's GDP is generated on the Transatlantic Marketplace. In recent years, this has tremendously heightened the need for a sound understanding of the legal system of the EU, especially for business and technology lawyers. Responding to this need, this course, first, examines the internationally unique legal system of the EU as such, as it is applicable to any field of substantive and procedural EU law. Thus, it looks at the legal nature and the different sources of EU law and its relationship with the national law of the EU Member States. The course covers the relevant EU law enforcement actions including state liability issues as well as the jurisdiction of both European Courts and relevant remedies in national courts. Secondly, it explores the legal framework of doing business in the EU, from the perspective of a business entity as an internationally operating actor in a European business environment. In this context, the class focuses on the most essential fields of EU business law, i.e.,(a) the four fundamental economic freedoms of the European Single Market for goods, services, capital and persons, (b) EU competition/antitrust law, as well as (c) EU e-commerce law. There is special emphasis on how EU business law can be used efficiently from private actors such as companies established outside the EU for their own advantage.

Course Style: A Substantive course teaches the law, theory, and policy in a particular area of law